SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
quagmire
noun
Soft, boggy ground; figuratively, a difficult situation from which escape is hard.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Boggy ground
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topQuagmire emphasizes soft ground that is hard to cross or escape. Wetland is a broader ecological term and need not be treacherous.
Difficult entanglement
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topIn this figurative sense, quagmire suggests becoming stuck in increasing complications. Deadlock is more specifically an inability to reach agreement or move forward.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See quagmire in use
Conflicting promises drew the committee into a quagmire of scheduling problems.
The search became a quagmire when each available room depended on another booking being moved first.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license